The Fairy Princess has been lax – and I admit it. I have not been blogging because there has been a new addition to the family. My Niece arrived on December 28, adding to the fun of my having a now, 8 month old, and my first niece who is nearing her second annum. So…blogging came a very distant second, third, fifth to the holidays and the naming days and actually all other days that could possibly have a name. I apologize, my wings were trying to beat quickly, but there was just SO MUCH happening I could not get a clear thought in my head.
Until I saw this.
Was ist das?
You may ask – and you may ask it in German, as I have just done. German would be the way to address this issue because, this issue cannot be addressed properly in English. It should have been able to be addressed in Sinhala or Tamil, but that would assume one has familiarity with the languages of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, and one cannot assume, as Felix Unger warned us so many years ago.
If you have not been flap ball changing around The Broadway, you may not know that there is currently a revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood playing at The Roundabout Theater. The premise of Drood, which was a novel that was never finished by Charles Dickens, is that we are watching a ‘show within a show’. Meaning we have been transported back in time to Victorian England to watch a show done by a Thespian troupe, who are giving us a show about a book that was never finished.
The musical has no ‘definitive’ ending. All we really have is the setup, and then after poor old Edwin has been ‘whacked’ every which way but Sunday, the audience gets to vote on who ‘did it’. Much merriment ensues. Technically you have to see the show several times to see all the different ways in which Old Edwin bites the dust. Therefore not only is it a show within in a show, it’s a moneymaker within a moneymaker. If you love it, you will go back to see it over and over until you are satisfied that you have exhausted every possible motive everyone could have possibly have had, and you will bask in the knowledge that you, good Sir, are a bona fide fan.
It is all very good to want to place things in Victorian England, I wouldn’t mind a place there myself – next to the Dowager Countess of Grantham if possible – but this is impossible because we live in 2013.
Yes, hard as it is to believe it, The Fairy Princess is beating her wings after the Mayan Calendar told us that life as we knew would end. (They did not predict the end of the world, the History Channel has been very clear on that matter, don’t get it twisted). And the Fairy Princess knew that two of the characters in the musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, are supposed to be from Ceylon. Which is now the country of Sri Lanka. But in 1870- something was Ceylon.
So when there was an announcement that Drood was coming back to Broadway, I was eager to see who would be cast as Helena and Neville Landless. All I knew was that they were both to have been from Ceylon. I have never been to Ceylon now Sri Lanka, guess where it is?
Oh. Sri Lanka borders Asia, The Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. If one were to own property in Sri Lanka, one could probably even see parts of Africa from their backyard. (Which would make Sarah Palin happy – she likes land masses viewable from backyards). The Fairy Princess loves research though, so she thought since she now knows WHERE Sri Lanka is, she would take a look at the people of Sri Lanka.
What do people of Sri Lanka look like? I thought I would take a look – Sri Lankan people in 1870…go!
If I were casting the character of Neville Landless in Drood, I imagine that I would look to people who have appeared in musicals, on Broadway or National Tour, who may have South Asian heritage. (Actually you could go a lot of different ways with this, given where Sri Lanka is, but let’s go with the supremely easy choice of South Asian).
It would be refreshing to have that Diversity in the Cast of a Broadway show. It would also fit with the storyline – in fact, it is WRITTEN IN the storyline, and…there are lots of people to bring in and sing for it. After all, since the Original Drood hit Broadway, we have had a whole crop of South Asian Broadway performers setting new standards. It is awesome! So…who would I call?
I might go with Aasif Mandvi, who played Ali Hakim in the last Broadway Revival of OKLAHOMA! (And yes, I had to sing it to spell it)
Or…I mean, you could go with Dev Janki,
Or certainly, without a doubt I would call the star of the only South Asian Broadway show, BOMBAY DREAMS, the one and only Manu Narayan Here’s a clip of him (pay no attention to Mike Meyers or Jessica Alba, you can DO it!)
Yep, any of the aforementioned Dudes would have done a great job of representing a Native of Ceylon, and they have the chops to sing it, dance it, and have been on Broadway stages previously. Easy peasy. I was able to cast that part in two minutes.
But let’s see who Director, Scott Ellis went with:
Now, Wikipedia tells us that it is not actually clear to what extent Helena and Neville Landless are Ceylonese, or Sri Lankan. Perhaps the choice was that Neville Landless is NOT a Native of Ceylon, perhaps he is a British Ex-Pat, who just lived there and got some sun….
I could have gone with that, till the NY Times pointed out, “silly imitation exoticism‘ and “...absurd burnt umber makeup‘. Which seems to imply that the Director, Scott Ellis, is actually meaning to have a Caucasian Man put on “Brownface’ and dance around in an imitation of what is South Asian traditional dance.
No!
Who would DO that?
Ok, perhaps the part of Neville has been cast with what the NY Times calls ‘absurd burnt umber’ leanings, but let’s turn to the part of Helena. After all, brothers and sisters don’t always look alike.
I mean, in my Family, which is Eurasian, we all look completely different. I decided I would try again – given that Neville has been painted in shades of Umber, I guess that the Director was going for a “Native” look – so I took a Google walk, and here is what a Native Girl from Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka) looked like in the 1870’s.
And here is how Director, Scott Ellis saw the role:
Well.
How awkward.
This is as bad as a white guy playing the King of Siam…oh wait…yeah, see – that rarely happens anymore. This is as bad as the Engineer being played by Jonathan Pryce!
The issue is not whether or not Helena and Neville are technically Ex-Pats of England brought up in Ceylon, or that this is a show within a show and they are portraying actors from Victorian England who would have portrayed natives of Ceylon in burnt umber makeup – the issue is – why?
Why would you, in the year 2013, find it a strong directorial choice to have two Caucasian actors put on makeup and ‘exoticism’?
If they are English ex-Pats, wouldn’t they be as Caucasian as they both are, but just wear the Native dress and perhaps have an accent? OR…here is a thought – if you are to make the determination that the characters are Native Ceylonese, maybe cast some Actors who look like they could be from that area?
I mean, why Cast this way in the year 2013?
This just does not make any sense!
This is like telling me that Julie Taymor and Bono hang out and go for long walks together! This is like saying that Porgy & Bess should have had an All Asian American Cast! This is like saying that The M*therf*cker with the Hat should be cast with all White Peo…oh wait, didn’t they do that in Connecticut? Nevermind. It’s Connecticut. The point is – all those thing are ridiculous!
I mean, if Neville and Helena were from Africa – which, as you can tell on the map, is just right across the sea from Sri Lanka, and NOT implausible, would you allow Caucasian actors to put on Blackface? They damn well wouldn’t. And THAT is actually Equality – if you would not do it to one Minority, you do not to it to the Others. Even Steven in this case, works just fine.
But wait, they will probably say that they looked, but could not find any South Asian Actors. Yes, yes, we hear this all the time – no Asian actors to be found, thus we were FORCED to use Caucasians in the role.
Really? Couldn’t find any South Asian Actors and Actresses….I see….what? They were all off working for the Wachowskis on their next Sci Fi movie because Tom Hanks is now going to do Broadway and there was an Opening? Right. Nice try.
I mean, is the whole cast of the Bombay Dreams busy?
The Fairy Princess is astounded. Here is a show which is written to include South Asian characters, and they were erased in favor of a what? In favor of a Mikado-esque depiction of the Natives of Ceylon now Sri Lanka!
(Before we get too crazy, please note: Actors are hired, directed, and give the performances that the Creative Team wishes them to give. So no hating on Andy Karl and Jessie Mueller – they are both very talented Broadway performers. All my Caucasian friends who have seen the show have raved about it. As for the rest, the Fairy Princess is reasonably assured you would understand their feelings.)
Most would ask why, Fairy Princess? Why does this tilt your tiara? It is a limited run, and who is this really going to hurt? I mean really?
What effect can one show have on an under represented group?
Well, l received a Casting Breakdown from a new show that the Acorn Theater is presenting, it’s called BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS -It is a show about Bollywood. It is written for an entire Indian Cast by a writer from England named Ayub Khan Din.
Here is the first line of the Breakdown:
NOTE: We are open to seeing Actors who are Non Indian, but who can believably play Indian Characters.
I mean, if South Asian people don’t get to play South Asian on Broadway – why should they get to play themselves Regionally? Why, when it is so FUN for Caucasians to put on thick makeup and accents and have a rip roaring, R and L dropping, Sari wearing heck of a time?
The Fairy Princess has no answer for this. The Fairy Princess finds this very sad.
So five smacks of the wand to The Roundabout Theater and Director Scott Ellis – you had a chance to be a leader, and embrace Diversity in a show where it is part of the plot, and you chose not to. And if you still do not see what effect the casting of a Broadway show can have, what the trickle down is, then please go and re-read that line from the Bunty Berman Presents Breakdown.
And you know what?
KISS MY FAN TAN FANNIE!
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A Statement just released by AAPAC:
Visit our website: http://www.AAPACnyc.org
AAPAC Opposes Brownface in Roundabout Broadway Production
After seeing The Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and receiving numerous complaints about the use of brownface in the production, AAPAC feels it is necessary to release the following public statement:
We were deeply disappointed to see white actors impersonating characters of South Asian descent complete with brown grease paint, appropriation of costumes and dance movements and relying on stereotypes in place of characterization. The obvious talents of the actors notwithstanding, the use of brownface had the effect of being extremely surreal and alienating, as if a joke was being told that was not intended for the Asian American community to hear.
We understand that the racism inherent in this musical is a reflection of the social mores within 19th century British panto and Music Hall traditions. Director Scott Ellis was being true to tradition, historical precedent, and to the story itself.
However, we would assert that if these characters came from the British colonies of Jamaica or Cameroon, and not the British colony of Ceylon (now present day Sri Lanka), blackface would never have been utilized in the same casual way. Today, you would never see a white actor in blackface playing the title role in “Othello” with the excuse of, “oh, well, that’s what was done in Shakespeare’s day.” We wonder why minstrelsy is acceptable when it comes to Asians?
The Roundabout production seems to show little awareness of the long history of Asian impersonation we are trying to put behind us or how racial politics and demographics have changed even in the 28 years since this show first premiered. There were a myriad of ways Mr. Ellis could have handled this issue with more sensitivity. For one, he could have hired actors of actual South Asian descent. Or, if he wanted to preserve white actors in these roles, the use of brownface would have been more ironic or satirical had the entire ensemble been cast multi-culturally. This would have been particularly effective since Hispanic-American star Chita Rivera was already in the cast. However, we have heard from quite a few members of the Asian acting community, including those with major Broadway credits, that requests from their representatives to secure an audition were denied.
The Roundabout Theatre Company does not have a good record when it comes to inclusive casting. Last year, we released a report looking at the percentages of actors of color hired at 16 of the top not-for-profit theatre companies in New York City over a five year span. The Roundabout made our list of the five theatre companies least likely to hire actors of color. In fact, they ranked second to lowest.
We are reaching out to the Roundabout to engage in closed-door discussions about these issues and are hopeful that they will accept our invitation. We are certain that their record does not reflect a conscious policy of exclusion and we hope that by bringing these issues to a more conscious level, the Roundabout can become an ally in an industry-wide commitment to more inclusive casting.
In the meantime, if you feel as strongly as we do, it would be very helpful if you take two minutes to send Artistic Director Todd Haimes a short missive via their FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/RoundaboutTheatreCompany.
Until there is conscious attention given to these issues throughout the industry, opportunities for American actors of Asian descent–and all actors of color– will never be truly equal.
Yours in Solidarity,
The AAPAC Steering Committee
Pun Bandhu, Cindy Cheung, Kimiye Corwin, Angel Desai, Siho Ellsmore, Christine Toy Johnson, Peter Kim, Julienne Hanzelka Kim, Nancy Kim Parsons, Kenneth Lee, Allan Mangaser, Eileen Rivera
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UPDATE FROM THE ROUNDABOUT THEATER COMPANY PAGE:
Thank you for your post. Listening to our audiences is at the core of Roundabout’s values, so we appreciate all feedback and take it very seriously.
Roundabout’s leadership team is planning to meet with Asian American Performers Action Coalition to discuss their concerns. In the meantime, we will refrain from further comment here on Facebook, and look forward to a constructive meeting.
The play within a play aspect is key here. Karl and Mueller are actually playing British Thespians named Victor Grinstead and Janet Conover who are playing the characters of Neville and Helena Landless. Not to say they still couldn’t have cast South Asian actors…but that would be in truth a color blind casting choice. So its really more the fault of the playwright Rupert Holmes than the production or the director. He wrote the characters as Brits playing Indian.
Hey, your post was super funny….but you’re missing a key element to the musical that explains the brownface. The musical isn’t just Broadway actors wearing brownface. The musical is Broadway actors who are playing the parts of Music Hall Royale actors in England who are playing the parts of the cast of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. So…it’s actors playing actors playing characters…which is why they’re in brownface. Confusing, I know.
I see where you’re coming from and I don’t want to seem like I’m insensitive to the issue, but I really see it as Jessie Mueller and Andy Karl were cast to play Victorian Music Hall actors, not Neville and Helena Landless, and I think it’s an important distinction. It sounds from this post like you haven’t seen the show yet. I’m curious if you are planning on seeing it.
I am totally with you when it comes to Jonathan Price as the Engineer being a ridiculous choice. We were supposed to be in Vietnam. I would be totally with you were we supposed to believe we were with Drood and his pals from Ceylon. But that’s not what we’re supposed to believe, and that’s why it’s a directorial choice that makes sense.
You pointed out: “The premise of Drood, which was a novel that was never finished by Charles Dickens, is that we are watching a ‘show within a show’. Meaning we have been transported back in time to Victorian England to watch a show done by a Thespian troupe, who are giving us a show about a book that was never finished.”
That is the answer to “why”. In Victorian England, in a Thespian troupe, the characters from Ceylon would be played by British actors in ridiculous burnt umber makeup, with ridiculous over the top accents. The premise of the show calls for us to believe that we are with a trouble of British actors in an English Music Hall — not that we have been transported INTO Drood’s tale, complete with authentic characters. The stylistic approach of the English music hall would be lost were those (and the other) characters authentic.
So I play devil’s advocate on this one.
To anyone saying that Erin is missing the point regarding the play within a play aspect, she acknowledges that “Edwin Drood” is metatheatrical. But that still doesn’t mean that brownface is okay. We’re not at the place in race relations where brownface, yellowface and blackface can happen without people getting upset about it. Because it is offensive, even when it’s meant to be humorous (like in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”). And it highlights the past inequalities and existing inequalities in theater.
There are many ways the Roundabout could have presented “Edwin Drood” without using brownface. They could have gone without, like Erin suggested, and pretend the characters were British ex-pats. They could have done it ironically, like Qui Nguyen did in “Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G,” where he had an African-American man play a Vietnamese man (no make-up, no slanted eyes, just an actor), and acknowledging it within the play. Or they could have casted South Asian actors; since we’re in the business of pretending to be in Victorian England, let’s pretend there were South Asian actors there.
I’m sure there will be a time when blackface, yellowface, brownface and other kinds of face painting will be seen as an inoffensive artistic decision. But we are not there yet and to pretend that we are is closed-minded and insensitive. Let’s get more actors of color on stage first. Then we can discuss face painting.
Until then, it’s just going to be like the “Scottsboro Boys” revival controversy. By the way, Erin, you’re on point, per usual.
Right on, Fairy Princess. Thanks for raising awareness of this issue. To address the comments below, yes, we totally get that “Drood” provides a window into 19th century British Music Hall and pantomine. But that doesn’t excuse depicting 19th century racism with little to no irony. You would never hire a white actor in blackface to do the title role in “Othello” and say, “Oh well (shrug) that’s what they did in Shakespeare’s day.” We are in 2013 and there was no sensitivity given at all to how racial politics have changed, even in the 28 years since this show first premiered. You could hire actual S. Asian actors for these roles (is it really that far fetched to believe that there could have been Ceylonese actors as part of this theatre troupe? Not for me, any more than I could believe Chita Rivera in this play). Which brings me to my second point. With Chita, this was the prime opportunity to have presented this play for a modern audience, with a truly multi-cultural cast. You could even preserve the white actors in brownface if you wanted to make an ironic comment, so long as there were plenty of actors of color playing the other roles! Historical “accuracy” and “dramaturgical consistency” are no excuse for exclusion. This is the theatre, and race should not be so primary as to supersede all the other ways in which we suspend disbelief, to paraphrase Oskar Eustis. It would have been great to have seen a Drood that was actually aware it was being produced in 2013. The Roundabout has a really sad record when it comes to hiring actors of color.
Kelly, I’m going to ignore your bratty tone and pretend that you’re trying to be constructive.
1) American opera companies are doing away with blackface productions of Othello.
2) Are you seriously saying that the Landless twins are really Caucasian but just got a severe TAN?? Why then do they speak in an South Asian accent and move their necks from side to side as they gesticulate with their arms and fingers like they were in a Bollywood movie??
3) Your comment seems to suggest that Drood is harmless fun and that Asians should just chill. You obviously have never been chingchonged to death on the playground by your peers. You dont have to live in a world where white kids dress up for Halloween as your people, complete with Chinese farmer hats and buck teeth or a world where an app called “Chinese Me” will do the same thing, to the endless enjoyment of its users. You aren’t constantly bombarded with the message that what you look like is ridiculous and thus open for ridicule. You probably have plenty of positive role models for yourself–the media doesn’t choose to only play and replay only the most stereotypical depictions of your ethnicity such as William Hung and Long Duk Dong or the coolies in Anything Goes or Thoroughly Modern Millie. It’s all harmless fun to you because you don’t have to live with the accumulated impact of the messages shows like Drood put out. So I suggest that you SIT BACK DOWN.
Kelly, if you don’t see how Drood is an example of the same type of racism I outlined, then I’m sorry, but you’re blind. They all have to do with white people impersonating Asians, playing stereotypes, sometimes twisting them into the realm of the grotesque, denying Asians a voice in how they would like to be represented while at the same time turning them into subjects of ridicule. This is not, to us, a trivial matter. This is also not just about the minstrelsy. it’s also about one of the best funded not-for-profit theatre companies in New York demonstrating a complete lack of sensitivity to the Asian American community which is not surprising given that their casting record demonstrates that they very much see Asians as the foreigner and not part of the American fabric. Asian actors have complained constantly that they cannot be seen at the Roundabout for roles that are not defined by the color of their skin. Both issues are interlinked and cannot be separated from the other, they both arise from the same lack of awareness and conscious thought. When you have a show like Drood that parades 19th century racist notions of Brownface as normal, you MUST go out of your way to develop some context or directorial frame of reference that demonstrates your awareness of how brownface will be received by a segment of your audience (and it’s not just Asians who are offended by this) or you will risk alienating them. I would hope that as a Latina, Kelly, you would be on our side in this.
Anyone happen to see Pacific Overtures?!? There were a whole bunch of Roundabout-employed Asian actors in that production.
I have just had a contact from Kelly Anne from Twitter, and she said that although she is a writer – she does NOT work at Bernie Telsey. She said the only contact she has had in theater was as an Assistant to someone a long time ago.
There are 2 Kelly Anne’s –
one on the Roundabout FB page who clearly states she works at Bernie Telsey as DIVA -and is HIGHLY supportive of the Casting of Drood and who addresses the casting of Neville and Helena Landless directly in her comment. With her past jobs listing that she used to be Lawrence O’Keefe’s Assistant. She was highly and pointedly specific & enthused on the casting of Helena and Neville – the comment which, I have now searched for, and has vanished mysteriously.
AND THE OTHER Kelly Anne on Twitter who has just informed me that she is a writer, and works on political campaigns, with the only connection to theater being that she was someone’s assistant a long time ago.
So, if I have wounded the feelings of Kelly Anne, Diva, who does work at Bernie Telsey – who did not write and call me a Racist and a Hypocrite, I apologize for any confusion.
I mean, if someone is tweeting you with the name Kelly Anne and then you go and see a highly supportive comment regarding the very issue you wrote about and her name is Kelly Anne as well? I mean, WHAT are the ODDS? And they BOTH have extensive MT Knowledge? And both do not think Caucasians in Brownface makeup are anything to complain about?
You can see how mistakes can be made. The Internet is not quite as blind as we all think now, is it?
Thusly, the Kelly Anne from Twitter has written me and stated she does NOT work at Bernie Telsey Casting.
Two Kelly Anne’s have been highly vocally supportive of the Casting of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD on Broadway.
It is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE.
However here are the Tweets:
I cannot find the first tweet which said something like “Oh, but it’s ok when @equill gets paid to be racist, Christmas Eve, much? #Hypocrite”
So, as I did not write AVENUE Q – is she calling the Creators of AVENUE Q – Bobby Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty, racist? Is she calling out THE PRODUCING OFFICE for producing AVENUE Q? Wow. That’s pretty gutsy.
Eventually, she blocked me from her feed, but these next ones are direct lifts, because I RTd them.
Kelly Anne tweeted with the tag @NotAboutEve and said:
RT: @NotAboutEve “And now @equill says Christmas Eve isn’t racist. “The More You Ruv Someone, anybody?” #imeanreally
RT:@NotAboutEve @Equill “Almost all of the Character’s laugh lines are based on mocking a stereotypical ‘Asian” accent. That kind of joke is ok? ummmm”
RT: @NotAboutEve “@Equill You’re a racist for assuming I’m a ‘white chick’ based on one photo. I’m equal parts Mexican and Irish. Sorry
And when you DO address Pun Bandhu, please show some respect – he has TWO TONY Awards
Also wanted to add, @PunB – thank you for your very articulate points! It still floors me that people today still tolerate acts of racism, or refuse to see it for what it is. Thanks to all you do, as well!
Ugh, reading this article just makes me ill. Again with this nonsense?? Seriously, don’t people in the “creative” and production community get it? I don’t care if this is a play within a play within a play within a parallel universe, which is then swathed in acid-trippy “Midsummer Night-esque” fantasy! Black/Brown/Yellow face portrayals have (or should’ve) gone the way of the Dodo! It still amazes me how directors like Scott Ellis, et al try to justify these ridiculous and offensive “choices”! Tell ya what, if there’s even a question as to whether or not it’s gonna be “cool” within a particular ethnic (non-white) community to infuse your wonderful production with pathetic and grotesque stereotypes, it’s probably best to NOT “bring it out of moth balls” and stage it! #onesickandtiredlatino
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ive spent some time on the book, and frankly never liked the idea of the musical. since in the original, edwin is goading neville over his colour, i think we may assume he and helena do indeed hail from ceylon. so yes, why not find actors from that part of the world? the 2012 bbc production did of course